The pumped-up Panthers defeated their Boston Bruins rivals 6-4 on Tuesday night to kickoff the NHL season. It was a strong showing to the 2024-25 campaign where Florida will defend the strap against opponents looking to de-throne them of their champion status.
More about the win in a second…there was big news Wednesday morning when Bill Zito announced the resigning of a key Panther, Carter Verhaeghe.
Per Zito:
“
Carter is one of our most trusted players. South Florida has watched him evolve into one of the NHL’s most elite goal scorers while also being a relentless forechecker.”
Adding:
“
His willpower and perseverance have allowed him to repeatedly succeed as a critical performer on the biggest stages. He is an integral part of our team now and into the future, and we are thrilled to see him remain a part of our core group.”
Verhaeghe had a monster year in 2023-24, setting new personal best numbers with 72 points (34-38-72) over 76 games. Not only is he consistently good throughout the year, but I don’t need to tell you guys on how clutch he is in the playoffs because you already know.
Great resign!
TUESDAY & TONIGHT
I didn’t know what to expect from the Cats on Tuesday night. I felt they would be psyched with the pre-game ceremony, but I wasn’t sure how they would come out. Well…they came out flying and were all over the B’s. Boston surprisingly looked flat for the majority of the game and Florida took advantage of that, driving the pace and picking up right where they left off last season.
Things got a little dicey towards the end, but the clock was working against Boston and in favor of Florida.
Someone that stood out to me was Jesper Boqvist. Knowing nothing about him, I thought he played a very strong game. He’s fast and has real play-making ability. Seems like he’ll fit in nicely here if he can keep that up.
Wonder what the B’s locker room was like with Swayman benched after holding out/skipping training camp and preseason?
And so the Cats are off to Ottawa to take on the rebuilding Senators. I like the Sens. There’s a number of guys on this team I’m a fan of. Just seems like they have been rebuilding for years because they can’t get the right combo of things.
But with Linus Ullmark locked in for the next few seasons, Ottawa will depend on him to carry a lot of the weight as they tweak their forward and defensive units.
After taking a puck to the face, Adam Boqvist will sit tonight, while Nate Schmidt slots in in his place:
Hope Boqvist heals up soon because I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got/can do…
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Go Panthers!
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